


iv. i only live to see you live.

by cacographyx



Series: five and klaus | post-apocalypse. [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cacographyx/pseuds/cacographyx
Summary: “I hate you sometimes,” Klaus says. He means it in a joking manner, but any hint of calmness on Five’s face disappears and he stiffens.“Don’t worry. I hate myself too.”“C’mon Five, you know that’s not what I meant…”“Doesn’t change my opinion.”
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: five and klaus | post-apocalypse. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086416
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	iv. i only live to see you live.

**Author's Note:**

> mentions of suicide and there are swears. sorry. by the way, i know it’s been quite a few days, i’ve just been busy with school. (then again, i wrote this in school so lmao.) i’ll try to have another part up tomorrow.

“I remember when you first did one of your blinks.”

Five glances over at his brother with some confusion written on his face. Random, but it’s a conversation starter.

“You do?”

“Yeah. How could I not?” Klaus looks at Five and pulls the blanket over him more when he notices him shaking a little. “We were three and we were all in the living room except for you because you were at your training thing. All of a sudden you just teleported in and landed really hard on the ground. You didn’t cry but I could tell it hurt you.”

Five plays with his blazer for a few minutes before replying.

“It didn’t.”

“It’s fine if it did. You were really little.”

“It didn’t,” Five repeats, this time with more force but somehow it sounds less convincing.

There is a pause.

“You okay?” Klaus looks at him with surprise; wasn’t Five the one that almost-

Dragging his mind away from that thought, Klaus smiles and nods. “Yep, doing just fine. Got the shit scared out of me, but otherwise fine.”

The smaller boy’s face immediately turns to stone. “Who scared you? I’ll kill them.”

Ben looks up for the first time in hours. “I think Five’s a little out of it. Might be from the blood loss or from exhaustion. Or both.”

“...You did.” Klaus puts his arm around his alive brother. “Don’t you remember?”

“I remember me trying to stab myself to death and you walking in and talking to Ben or something. Did anything else happen that would’ve caused you some panic?”

Five’s tone is indistinguishable; neither Klaus nor Ben can tell if he’s being sarcastic or genuine.

“I hate you sometimes,” Klaus says. He means it in a joking manner, but any hint of calmness on Five’s face disappears and he stiffens.

“Don’t worry. I hate myself too.”

“C’mon Five, you know that’s not what I meant…”

“Doesn’t change my opinion.”

Another silence goes by.

“Remember when we snuck up onto the roof when we were nine and just talked all night?”

Five looks at the window and Klaus can see a ghost of a smile on his brother’s face. The sight of it fills him up to the brim with happiness.

“Yeah… I remember. It was a breezy night. There were lots of stars. And the moon.”

“I liked that we talked. We never really did that.”

“That’s because I’m a prick.”

Klaus rolls his eyes but can’t keep the grin off of his face when he sees that Five still has that ghostly smile on his face.

The duo return to their own thoughts for a while. 

All Five can think about his Klaus and how his brother manages to be so invasive of personal space but so comforting at the same time. Of course, he’ll never admit this to anyone, but Five is so touch-starved and Klaus just goes around randomly hugging people and ruffling their hair all the time so it works out in a way.

In the same mannerism, Five is the only person on Klaus’ mind. He distinctly remembers a time when him, Five, Vanya, and Diego had gone to the park a week after the apocalypse. Vanya had wanted to get Five out of the house to breathe a little. Of course Klaus had tagged along and since Diego was also in the house at the time of the announcement, Vanya had made him come too.

While the adult-looking Hargreeves were sitting on the benches, Five was off exploring the area. He must’ve not been aware that the rest of his siblings had been watching him, otherwise he would never dare to be this vulnerable and exposed to anyone. 

Vanya and Diego soon began to talk about something, but Klaus kept on watching his smallest brother. When Five approached a small field of flowers, bent down, and stroked the petals gently, Klaus’ heart broke into a million pieces.

Until that moment, he had never thought about how much Five missed out on with the apocalypses. For his brother, even the simplest things that everyone else (including Klaus himself) took for granted was considered a luxury for Five.

After that day in the park, Klaus began to notice more of that behavior from Five. The way he never changed out of his uniform until Allison practically forced him out of it to clean it. The way he always ate so little but when he did eat, he always made sure to clean off his plate. The way he used every corner and tiny space of a piece of paper before moving onto a new one. The way he observed things so carefully and looked so intrigued.

Thinking about it makes Klaus’ heart ache. That day in the park was two weeks ago, but it has never left his mind.

“You know, you’re very careful with basically everything.”

Five looks at his brother like he’s insane. “The fuck are you talking about?”

Klaus just smiles. “Remember when Vanya made us go to that park and you were just off on your own, walking around and exploring everything?”

“Yeah?” The red tint on the smaller boy’s face shows that he hadn’t been aware of anyone watching him that day.

“You were looking at the flowers like you had never seen them before. And after that, you always make sure that nothing goes to waste.”

“Well, I had spent forty-five years in an apocalypse by myself and had to eat anything from insects to cardboard.” 

A pause. Ben hasn’t said a word in a long time, but he just takes in everything that Klaus is saying and realizes that it’s all true.

“You’re pretty cute.”

“Don’t call me cute.”

“But you are.”

“I’m literally a fifty-eight year old serial killer who-”

“-who has killed countless people, yeah yeah, we know,” Klaus finishes easily, twirling a few strands of hair with his left pointer finger. “But to me, you’re my smallest brother, not to mention youngest because you were born at the latest time, and you look thirteen. That’s a danger when you’re out and about by yourself, especially with adults and girls.”

“I can handle myself,” Five bites back, some of his usual temper returning. Klaus can’t help but feel relieved about that.

“Sure you could,” he replies. “But I’m your older brother. It’s my job to protect you.”

Five returns his gaze to the infamous window. “You don’t have to make it your job. I told you I can handle myself.”

“Oh my god, Five…” Klaus whines. “Just let me love you!”

“Fuck you.”

A yawn escapes Five’s mouth before he can stifle it.

“Go to sleep, baby boy.”

“I swear, if you fucking call me that again-”

“Then you’ll kill me, blah blah blah.” Klaus gives his brother a smile. “Just go to sleep, you look like shit.”

“Gee thanks,” Five responds sarcastically, but nevertheless curls up underneath the covers and closes his eyes.

Within five minutes, the smaller boy is asleep and Klaus looks over at Ben, who is smiling at Five with longing in his eyes.

“Nice job,” Ben says, and rolls his eyes when Klaus has the audacity to reply with fake hurt in his tone.

“Always sounding so surprised, huh? I’m not as bad as you think I am!”

“Sure. But Five’s sleeping, so I’ll let it slide this one time.”

There is a comfortable moment of silence as both awake brothers watch Five’s chest rise and fall. Some might say it’s creepy, but to them it’s a sign that the physically-thirteen year old is still alive.

“Ben, can you get me some food please?”

“No.”

**Author's Note:**

> so that was a real shitty ending, but i felt like i was droning on and on and i just needed to stop. hopefully the next part will be better. i have titles and prompts up until part twenty, i just need to write them. :/  
> -  
> please leave kudos and a comment if you liked this. have a good day/night.


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